Children enjoy the act of inflating a latex balloon and then letting it go to fly about in the air. They also enjoy playing with toys that allow them to actively exert control over a physical phenomenon, such as may be the case with toys for launching inflated balloons to fly in the air. In addition to being fun, toys for children should also be safe to use and easy to operate.
Toy devices are known that are designed to permit a latex balloon to be affixed to the device, inflated by blowing through an air tube in the device, and then released to fly in the air by pulling a trigger. Examples include U.S. Pat. No. 3,025,634 to Barricks (1962), U.S. Pat. No. 4,134,228 to Ortiz (1979), and U.S. Pat. No. 4,248,008 to Pitkanen (1981). Alternatively, U.S. Pat. No. 3,698,374 to Casper (1972) discloses a device that requires the balloon to first be inflated before being affixed to the device prior to its release by pulling a trigger.
In general, the act of inflating a balloon can be hazardous for a child since the balloon can burst in close proximity to the child's face and eyes. None of the prior art patents noted above disclose any parts intended to shield the child's face and eyes while the child blows air into the balloon.
An additional risk exists if a hard object is attached to the balloon and carried along with the balloon in flight. Both the Barricks and Ortiz devices require that a rigid tubular insert first be affixed in the neck of the balloon. The insert is then attached to a gun-like launching mechanism. Upon inflation and release, the insert remains in the neck of the balloon and is carried along in flight, thus creating a risk of injury to the face or eyes of anyone nearby. Furthermore, inserts that are small enough to fit into the neck of an average sized balloon may also be small enough for a child to accidentally swallow.
In addition to being safe, toys should also be easy to operate since children do not generally have high degrees of manual dexterity. The device disclosed in the Casper patent requires the user to first inflate the balloon, then hold the neck of the inflated balloon closed while squeezing a lever on the device which opens spring actuated jaws. The user then holds the neck of the balloon in the middle of the jaws and releases the lever to allow the jaws to clamp down on the neck of the balloon. Subsequent squeezing of the lever in a trigger-like fashion causes the jaws to open once again, which, in turn, allows the inflated balloon to escape and fly away. Children can be expected to find the task of holding an inflated balloon in position while letting go of a lever to close the jaws cumbersome--made more so by the fact that "un-squeezing something in order to close it" is a concept that does not come naturally to many children. Moreover, they risk getting their fingers pinched in the spring actuated jaws.
In the Pitkanen device, the inflated balloon is also permitted to escape and fly away upon squeezing a trigger. Although the device first imparts a spin to the inflated balloon by way of a complicated mechanism prior to its release, the actual release is effected by the removal of a retaining element referred to as a locking sleeve. In operation, a user affixes the neck of a balloon over the end of a cylindrical nozzle, and inserts the balloon neck bead into a peripheral groove in the nozzle. The nozzle is then drawn into the locking sleeve such that the peripheral groove and balloon neck bead are covered by the closely fitting sleeve. After the balloon has been inflated, triggering the device advances the nozzle out of the sleeve, which is intended to permit the air pressure of the inflated balloon to cause it to fly off the nozzle. In order for this device to operate effectively, however, when an uninflated balloon is first affixed on the nozzle it would be necessary either for the neck of the balloon to frictionally adhere to the nozzle, and/or for the bead to be frictionally held in the groove. Otherwise, the balloon would not remain in position as the nozzle is drawn into the sleeve. This substantially limits the range of sizes of balloon that may be used with the device. If a balloon has either a neck much smaller than the nozzle, or a bead much larger than the groove, then a significant amount of frictional adhesion would be established when the balloon is affixed on the nozzle or the bead forced into the groove. Since latex is naturally resistant to sliding, the amount of force needed to overcome even a small amount of frictional adhesion could easily exceed the force of air pressure exerted by the inflated balloon. Since the device lacks any parts or mechanism intended to physically push the bead out of the groove, or the neck off of the nozzle, the balloon would remain on the nozzle even though it was no longer restrained by the locking sleeve.
Another drawback to the Pitkanen device, which also applies to the Barricks and Ortiz devices, is the high number of moving parts. All three have numerous parts, which significantly contributes to the cost of manufacturing and assembly.
The Casper device, on the other hand, has few moving parts, and would likely be inexpensive to manufacture and assemble. However, the Casper device does not provide the ease of being able to mount the balloon to the device prior to inflation.
The devices disclosed in the Barricks, Ortiz, Pitkanen, and Casper patents all have the following deficiencies:
(a) None of the devices provide protection for a child's face and eyes while the child is inflating the balloon; PA1 (b) None of the devices actively force an inflated balloon to disengage from the device in order to commence its flight; PA1 (c) All four of the devices are designed to look and operate like guns. In today's society, many parents are opposed to their children playing with toy guns, particularly in light of recent tragedies where children were harmed because toy guns were mistaken for the real thing; and, PA1 (d) The Barricks, Ortiz, and Pitkanen devices provide an air tube for blowing air into a mounted balloon, and a release mechanism of one form or another, but have numerous moving parts that would be costly to manufacture and assemble. The Casper device has a release mechanism and few moving parts, and would be inexpensive to manufacture and assemble, but does not include an air tube which would permit a balloon to be mounted prior to inflation. Therefore, none of the prior art patents disclose a device that has few moving parts and would be inexpensive to manufacture and assemble that also includes a release mechanism and permits mounting of a balloon for inflation through an air tube.